Alison Page & Nik Lachajczak

Monumental in scale and ambition, The Eyes of the Land and the Sea by Alison Page and Nik Lachajczak commemorates the 250th anniversary of the 1770 encounter between Aboriginal Australians and Lt James Cook’s crew of the HMB Endeavour at Kamay Botany Bay National Park, Australia.

The artwork is cast in bronze and takes the form of seven ribs, resembling both the hull of the HMB Endeavour, as well as the bones of a whale, being the Gadigal totem. An amalgam of two very different forms, the commemorative installation speaks to the different perspectives of those first encounters, evoking a sense of sentiment, mutual understanding and reflection on the events of 1770.

UAP collaborated with the artists to develop, fabricate and install the 30m long artwork, which embeds refreshed and revived narratives of history and connection to the land, strengthening the significance of the meeting place at Kamay to all.